Arroyo brings home $2.2B in pledges

By Christian V. Esguerra
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 04:17:00 06/08/2009

Filed Under: Investments, Foreign affairs & international relations, Diplomacy, Tourism, Defense


MANILA, Philippines—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s week-long visit to South Korea and Russia garnered a total of $2.2 billion in investment promises and agreements for the Philippines, Malacañang said Sunday.

Besides the investment commitments, Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said Manila and Moscow were working on an air agreement to establish direct flights between the two countries, a move intended to encourage more Russian tourists to visit the Philippines.

Ms Arroyo and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev also agreed to come up with a “defense cooperation” that would initially see the Philippines and Russia exchanging defense attachés.

The bulk of the investment commitments came from South Korean companies, such as a $515-million hotel and golf course to be constructed in Clark Field, Pampanga, Remonde said at a media briefing upon Ms Arroyo’s return to Manila at 7:46 a.m. on a Philippine Air Lines flight.

“In all, we were able to get total investment commitments of $2.2 billion,” Remonde said.

Korean companies Eco Solution and EnviroPlasma promised to pour in $475 million for alternative fuel projects, he said.

Eco Solution and its affiliate, Eco Global Bio-Oils, will also come up with a jathropa plantation project to the tune of $175 million in South Cotabato within the next three years.

Remonde said EnviroPlasma and its local partner, Central Luzon Bioenergy, promised to invest $300 million in a sugar bioethanol plant, also at Clark. He said the plant would produce 500,000 liters of bioethanol daily.

The Korean International Cooperation Agency (KoICA) will construct a rice-processing complex worth $12.97 million in Luzon.

The press secretary said KoICA will also invest $14.9 million to expand the Molinao Dam in Bohol. The project would be part of the $500-million investment commitment the Philippines received in agriculture.

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